It became evident how much this team loves their sport as they rallied together to overcome every obstacle they faced in their build-up - losing a captain, goalkeeper and coach - taking it all in their stride to come away with a bronze medal shows phenomenal character.

On Sunday 2 September the First XI Hockey Team travelled to Whangarei to compete at the tier 1 prestigious Federation Cup Tournament. Although you'd never know looking from the outside in, this team's journey was far from smooth.  A couple of weeks prior as the team competed at the annual QUAD Tournament it was discovered that their Captain and Sports Prefect, Ellie Duncan had a blood clot in her leg which later travelled to her lung. Devastating news for all and we are relieved she is on the road to recovery but that was not the end of it. Losing both their goalkeeper and coach to uncontrollable reasons meant it was all hands on deck to make the best of an unsettling situation. 

We are very lucky to have some awesome parents involved at Columba College and three of these wonderful mums attended the tournament, doing a fantastic job at keeping the girls happy and organised. The silver lining, however, came in the form of 19 year old Black Stick Madi Doar, who unselfishly put her hand up to be our stand-in coach for the week-long event. She was fantastic with the team and went above and beyond to ensure the girls were learning, recovering and full of smiles. The knowledge she passed onto the girls and her player experiences have created memories both on and off the turf that the team will never forget.

Third place at Marie Fry 2018, what a result from a superstar team. Columba College is truly inspired by this group of student athletes, to face that much adversity and demonstrate resilience, we couldn't be more proud. Well done to our two Year 13 students who have worn the dove with pride for many years - Captain Jaime Preston and Holly Haig. Thank you for all you have done for Columba College Hockey, we wish you all the best in your future development.